My Level Zero System-Chapter 256: Mera’s path

Mera struggled to get up. On the other side, Magus emerged from the raging flames, his face cold and filled with killing intent, looking at Mera as if she were already dead.

He hadn’t expected Mera to push him to this point.

However, after that counterattack, the thought of revenge in the Magus’s heart cooled down somewhat. For the sake of the mission, he decided to spare Mera this one time.

"Surrender immediately, or I’ll kill you."

And Mera’s response to the Magus was to stomp her foot on the ground, creating a sinkhole that sent him plummeting.

Mera possessed [Air Magic], [Fire Magic], and [Earth Magic].

It was clear that this Magus’s [Fire Magic] had reached mid-class, so it was illogical for Mera to use her own low-class [Fire Magic] against him. Thus, [Earth Magic] entered the fray!

What she did was continuously use [Earth Wall] to buy time, so much so that the surrounding terrain was significantly disrupted.

At the low-class stage, [Earth Magic] had a fairly diverse range of applications compared to other magic systems. Through her studies, Mera could now learn many new tricks, such as pulling the ground from under an opponent’s feet to create an [Earth Wall] to enclose them.

However, her opponent this time was no pushover.

Immediately, the earthen cage that Mera had meticulously built was cut into many pieces. And what caused this were sharp blades made of water. The Magus reappeared, enveloped in a [Water Bubble], and from that [Water Bubble], water tentacles extended, seemingly soft, yet lethally sharp.

These were what cleanly sliced through Mera’s earthen cage, no different from cutting a cake. It was a combination of two mid-class magic skills: [Water Shape] to naturally form mobile tentacles and [Water Slash] to give them sharpness.

Combined with the magic skill [Water Bubble], this Magus was practically in a state of complete offense and defense.

[Water Magic] was relatively weak at its initial stage, but once it advanced from low-class to mid-class, [Water Magic] would undergo significant transformations.

"I can’t kill him." A thought flashed through Mera’s mind.

No, she couldn’t even defeat him.

Mera couldn’t help but admit that she had been too hasty; successfully deceiving them at first had made her a little too confident. A blind confidence forged from her victories at Kanzax Academy, which ultimately led to disaster.

Mera had potential; she would undoubtedly surpass these Magus eventually.

But in a real battle, time and enemies wouldn’t wait for her.

So, Mera did what she felt was the most sensible thing to do at that moment: run.

Using [Fly], she immediately launched herself into the air, aiming to escape the Magus’s reach.

She succeeded in this, but immediately felt danger approaching from her left.

Mera dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding an [Air Slash] launched by another Magus who also possessed mid-class [Air Magic].

"So you tricked us! Now you have nowhere to run!" he snarled, continuing his assault.

"That explosion must have alerted them," Mera thought.

Against the pursuit of that Magus, Mera didn’t counterattack; she focused solely on escaping. In the past, she might have considered fighting, but she knew that among the five pursuing Magus, two possessed mid-class [Air Magic]. If she got caught in a two-on-one situation, it would be extremely disastrous.

However, Mera still underestimated them.

Just as she was soaring through the sky, a burst of flames erupted from the ground, propelling a Magus upward with fierce speed, aiming directly at Mera’s flight path.

"Don’t think you’re safe just because you’re flying!"

This unexpected turn of events left Mera no time to react effectively. She could only manage to envelop her body in air as a shield. But this action wasn’t enough to stop the Magus’s attack.

With another loud explosion, Mera plummeted to the ground. Her entire body was covered in wounds, and her evening gown was now ragged and dirty, like a beggar’s rags. Her breathing was ragged, and Mera struggled immensely to stand up.

And right in front of her, on the ground, stood the Magus skilled in both [Fire Magic] and [Water Magic]. Above her in the sky was the Magus with [Air Magic].

"Damn it..." Mera cursed, her heart swelling with helplessness.

She should have just run away from the start.

Her mind was in utter chaos at this moment, completely unable to devise an effective way to turn the situation around.

Despair.

That emotion was like a watered seed, germinating within Mera’s heart.

Suddenly, Mera raised her hand and slapped herself hard across the face. This action even stunned the two Magus for a moment.

"Is she crazy?" This thought involuntarily appeared in both their minds.

But only Mera knew what she was doing.

Kain had once revealed to her that the essence of magic was will, it was the ego. In other words, how a Magus perceived themselves directly influenced their magic.

Weakness was a deadly poison to magic; once weakness spread and belief shattered, magic would also shatter.

That’s why Kanzax Academy trained its students so brutally, because only by enduring hardship and maintaining one’s self could one advance far on the path to becoming a Magus.

Now, if a mortal mind were to accept the vision of a mid-class Magus, that mortal would surely experience immense suffering, even going mad with what they saw but couldn’t comprehend. Only a Magus with a strong will and ego could endure, and even rise higher because of it.

"That’s right, these two aren’t even half as strong as Cecilia, why should I despair?"

"And I... dared to fight even Cecilia, didn’t I?"

Mera seemed to have had an epiphany, and power began to surge wildly within her body.

Break the will, crush the will, and then forge a new, tougher will!

Mera’s journey of magical development was originally even more dramatic than Kain’s. As soon as she advanced to mid-class Magus, she entered a state of sublimation, mastering all mid-class magic skills of [Air Magic] in an extremely short time. Now, Mera had taken another big step forward on this path.

This had actually been presented to Mera many times before, but neither she nor others paid much attention or understood it, letting those experiences gather dust in her memory.

However, now she understood: to quickly advance further, she had to find her own path.

"The path" here referred to the direction of power development, or perhaps even the style of magic usage.

The most prominent example Mera saw was Kain. He didn’t just use magic skills for simple attacks; he leaned towards the ability to orchestrate the entire battlefield. Thus, the coordinated magic skills he displayed were dazzling and expansive, representing what he controlled—the lord of the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Cody was a guardian, so his combined magic skills leaned more towards sweeping and enduring capabilities, transforming him into an invincible fortress, crushing and blocking all enemies.

As for Cecilia, she used swordsmanship as her pillar, supplemented by magic, leading to a combat style of pure, greatly amplified slaughter. A dangerous sword that could cleave through everything.

So what about her, Mera? What would she be?

"I want... freedom."

"How can people like you... bind me?"

"Want to catch me? Then try catching the wind first."

Finally, Mera stood tall. She looked at the two approaching Magus, a strange smile twisting on her lips.

Unbidden, both of them felt a chill run down their spines.

The Magus on the ground, angered by his own sudden fear, roared and unleashed a [Fire Cannon] towards Mera.

But an even stranger sight occurred: Mera... suddenly vanished.

Her figure, like a distinct wisp of smoke, was suddenly scattered by the wind, carried away and disappearing into thin air.

"Where is she?"

The Magus grew wary, hastily using [Water Magic] to set up a defensive layer, while shouting up at the other Magus.

"Quick, check where she is!"

However, there was no reply.

When the Magus looked up, he saw something fall.

It was a corpse with its neck torn open—the very Magus who used [Air Magic]. His face, frozen in death, was rigid with astonishment and horror, as if he had witnessed something unbelievable.

"No way! If she attacked, we should have known!"

The remaining Magus’s face was filled with disbelief. He looked around; where was Mera?

He didn’t know that Mera was actually closer to him than he thought. The reason he couldn’t detect her was because it was pitch dark, and Mera had now realized her own path.

A silent wind.

An invisible assassin.

No sound, no form, like a gentle breeze passing over one’s skin unnoticed.

The difference here was that this wind could kill.

[Fly] for silent movement.

[Air Scream] to mask sound.

[Air Vortex] to envelop her body and weapon, blending her into the countless air currents around them. It also disturbed vision by stirring up tiny particles in the air, similar to how tornadoes have a distinct color compared to ordinary air because they mix with various impurities.

Finally, [Air Slash] for assassination and killing.

A perfect set of skills for Mera.